Best Tablets 2017

The new iPad Pro is so fast, thanks to its A10X Fusion processor, that it runs circles around most laptops. It also gives you a bigger and more colorful 10.5-inch display and epic battery life. But the best part is what's coming soon: iOS 11 will bring features like a Files app, drag and drop and better multitasking to make this tablet a true productivity powerhouse.

Even though Microsoft is calling the Surface Pro a full laptop now, it's still the best Windows tablet you can buy too. The built-in kickstand makes it easy to prop the Surface Pro up wherever you are, and now that the kickstand opens up to 165 degrees, it can transform into an ideal drawing platform with the flick of your wrist. Let's not forget that the Surface Pro's 12.3-inch PixelSense screen is one of the best LCD panels on the market, either. And when you need to get some typing done, you can quickly slap on Microsoft's Type Cover to get a full notebook experience.

The Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is the best tablet you can give to a child. Not only does it feature the serious set of parental controls that help guard your kids from the wrong side of the internet, but it also packs a ton of free age-appropriate content. Further, it beats the cheaper $99 Kindle Fire 7 Kids Edition with a brighter display, longer battery life and faster performance.

For $199, the Tab 2 A10 will give most tablet users everything they want out of a slate. It offers a bright and colorful 10-inch display, an epic 12 hours of battery life and solid quad-core performance.

The 2nd generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro comes pretty close to being the laptop-killer that Apple wants it to be. Its speedy A10X processor as much (or more) power as some full-fledged laptops, its display is the star of the show. Emitting up to 555 nits, it's one of the brightest screens we've ever seen on a tabler or even a lapotp, and its new ProMotion technology enables smoother scrolling and less Pencil input latency (down to 20 milliseconds) than any tablet on the market. It also lasted more than 12 hours on the Laptop Mag Battery Test, beating last year's model by more than 2 hours.

While most tablets are designed to amuse one person at a time, the 10.1-inch Yoga Tab 3 Pro features a built-in projector for beaming movies, presentations or family photos onto a screen or wall. Better still, this powerful Android slate has a colorful 2560 x 1600 display, powerful speakers, a convenient kickstand and a luxurious leather back.

The Lenovo Yoga Tab 3's 15 hours of battery life doesn't come without a couple sacrifices, but if you want the most endurance in a tablet, this is the device for you. The Yoga Tab 3 features a colorful, 1280 x 800-pixel, 8-inch screen; handy built-in kickstand; and clever 8-megapixel camera that rotates 180 degrees from front to back. Unfortunately, its Snapdragon 212 processor puts out mediocre performance, and the big battery takes up a lot of space, but it doesn't stop when others do.

The least expensive Apple tablet, the $329 iPad looks and feels anything but cheap. This 9.7-inch slate offers more than 12 hours of battery life, a speedy A9 CPU and a brilliant screen, along with Apple's industry-leading ecosystem of tablet-friendly apps.

The Asus ZenPad 3S 10 pumps a lot of volume, but we love it for its support of hi-res sound files, the kind that true audiophiles collect and treasure. The tablet's quad-core and dual-core CPUs make it one of the faster Android tablets we've tested, and its bright, vibrant display is great for streaming movies and music videos. This 9.7-inch slate is as gorgeous as it is speedy, with an aluminum design with bevelled edges that will make some think it's an iPad.

Amazon announced new versions of its Fire tablets; the update to the 8-inch model is the one we're most excited about. Not only is its price being cut by $10 (bringing it down to $79), but Amazon is also promising up to 12 hours of battery life. If that claim holds up, it will top last year's Fire HD 8, which lasted 11:19 on the Laptop Mag Battery Test. We loved that version for its solid value, decent performance and bright display.